Today’s day for US -Turkish relations. For the first time in 6 years, President Erdogan will cross the White House’s threshold invited by President Trump and discuss a series of very serious bilateral and international issues that will determine the course of their relationships from now on.

Gaza and Syria are expected to be at the center of the meeting, which will take place at the Oval Office where both leaders will receive the questions of the journalists. Already the Turkish president has given a taste of how he would like to meet President Trump. “Let’s meet first. After meeting, we will tell you what we have discussed and what results we achieved, either on the way or after our return to Turkey. ” The answer was quite vague, to realize that there are no certainties about Turkey when Donald Trump is president of the United States.

Meeting and with Macron

Interestingly, prior to his departure from New York, the Turkish president met with French President Emmanuel Macron at the UN headquarters, at a meeting of the doors and present of French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Baro, the Turkish counterpart of Hakan Fidan. Underlining that the dialogue with France is important to Turkey, Erdogan said that efforts would continue to strengthen further cooperation in many areas, especially in trade, energy and defense industry.

With the mind in the F-35

The meeting with Trump will take place around 6 hours of Greece, and one of the top demands by the Turkish president will be allowed Turkey to reintegrate the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter aircraft. A second demand will be for the United States to end their support for the Syrian democratic forces under the leadership of the Kurds. In both cases, Ankara is aware of the difficulties. Observers warn that despite the enthusiasm around Erdogan’s coveted reception, the reintegration of the F-35 program is not certain because of the long-term and inter-party resistance from Congress.

Ahmet al -Sarah factor

But there is also a third factor in which Ankara estimates a lot. Syrian President Ahmed al -Sarah was among the speakers at the UN General Assembly in New York. He warned that Israel’s constant attacks endanger the region, but added that “Syria has been converted from a crisis country into an opportunity for peace.” The former Syrian jihadist and current president had a warm handshake with President Trump and the First Lady, an example that Syria is in the center of developments.